i finally saw it and thought it was one of the finest examples of gratuitous violence, bloodshed, and gunplay in quite a while.

it was a boarderline gore flick w/o the horror. im not sure i have seen so many heads explode like watermelons in a single movie.

im probably one of the few who liked the original dolph lundgren version. it was pretty much a b-movie that looked like it was scripted directly from a comic book. for that, i thought it stayed true as the punisher was one of the more underground series at the time.

i really liked the second one with james as the punisher. much higher budget, good acting, and a well developed character and plot. much more realistic than the comic book version. they almost did too good of a job humanizing frank castle.

this one was great. tons of shit happened that would never happen in "real life". it had more of that comic book feel with much better special effects and a higher buget. it had the entertainment value of the original m. keaton batman (still one of my favorite comic adaptions).

but this one had everything that drew me to the comic in the first place. lots of guns, lots of shooting, and lots of death. no super powers required.

Tony, how does this one compare to the other Punisher (the one that came out a few years back?)

It seems like there is more action in the latest installment (at least based on what I've seen in the limited commercials.)

i would say thats about right. if youre into the old comics i would compare t. janes version with the "war journal" which was a bit more deep, cerebral, and developed and this latest one (and the d. lungren version) with the "war zone and original punisher, which are a bit more on the surface and gratuitous.

if youre not familiar with the comics, its like comparing the j. nicholson/ m. keaton batman to the newer "dark night " series. both are great.

sometimes you like a deep plot to work your brain (like "The Departed") and other times you just want pure entertainment and gratification (American Pie).

i like how the newest version accurately depicts how castle lost his family. the t. jane version works on you understanding and actually liking/sympathizing with the punisher.

the latest version doesnt really care but it does accurately depict how he does feel bad when he wastes an innocent person.

and while he doesnt actually kill as many people as the awesome scene in rambo ( ) there is a funny scene showing all the case files in NYPD that depict all the criminals he has "punished".